Teacher Emotional Support Scale on Italian High School Students: A Contribution to the Validation

Abstract

Background/Objective: This study represents a contribution to the validity and reliability of the 15-item Teacher Emotional Support Scale in a sample of Italian high school students (N=501; 80.2% females; M=15.66; SD=1.52). Therefore, the present paper aimed to examine the factor structure and to investigate the reliability and validity of the scale. Students’ perception of teacher emotional support refers to the students’ perception of whether and to what extent the teacher shows caring and understanding behaviours, promotes students' growth and establishes personal relationships with them. Materials and Methods: Confirmatory factor analyses confirmed that the hypothesized three-factor solution had the best fit to the data, assessing three different but related dimensions: Positive climate, Teacher sensitivity, and Regard for adolescent perspective. Furthermore, the reliability and convergent and discriminant validity can be considered adequate. Conclusion: The Teacher Emotional Support Scale could be considered as a valid instrument to assess high school students’ perception of the emotional support received from their teachers. Practical implications have also been discussed.

Students’ Trait Emotional Intelligence and Perceived Teacher Emotional Support in Preventing Burnout: The Moderating Role of Academic Anxiety

“…Previous scholars, indeed, have highlighted that students’ perception of teachers’ emotional support was inversely related to emotional problems and adverse school outcomes (e.g., [ 97 ]). Moreover, students who perceive their teacher as caring and attentive to their emotional needs may feel more shielded and have further possibilities to counteract the strain and pressure of excessive school requirements (e.g., [ 47 , 98 , 99 , 100 ]). Besides this, considering that emotional consumption is the first and foremost component experienced by burned-out students [ 101 ], the ones who perceived high emotional and caring behavior from their teachers are more likely to broaden their emotional resources and overcome the burnout-related exhaustion (e.g., [ 3 ]).…”

“…Besides this, teacher sensitivity concerns the extent to which a teacher is prone to respond to students' academic and emotional needs. Finally, a regard for adolescent perspective pertains to the degree to which teachers promote the autonomy and general development of their students [46][47][48][49]. Previous studies have shown that, compared to other sources of support, high school students' perception of teacher emotional support is more strongly associated with low levels of emotional exhaustion and high subjective well-being (e.g., [50,51]).…”

“…Teacher emotional support: Teacher emotional support was measured by the Teacher Emotional Support Scale used in Schenke et al [49] in its Italian version [47]. The instrument is a 15-item self-report questionnaire based on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = "Not at all true", 5 = "Very true"), and measuring students' perceptions of the emotional support they receive from their teachers.…”

The Effect of Students’ Perception of Teachers’ Emotional Support on School Burnout Dimensions: Longitudinal Findings

“…To our knowledge, two previous studies addressed this issue, showing that perceived teacher emotional support and its dimensions were significantly and negatively related to high school students’ burnout. However, both studies used the cross-sectional approach [ 19 , 30 ].…”

Student Misbehaviour and Teacher Coercion. A Comparative Study of Contextual Factors in Primary and Secondary Education Teachers

“…This variable is related with a lesser frequency of student misbehaviour in the classroom [ 11 , 26 , 30 ]. The cultivation of a good relationship with students is associated with the teacher profile characterised by using rewards, dialogue, teacher sensitivity, and regard for adolescent perspective, acknowledging own responsibility, and so on [ 33 , 40 , 41 ]. In general terms, encouraging participation in classrooms by respecting one another and promoting coexistence are good practices that encourage excellent student–teacher relationships and ensure greater teacher competence [ 33 ].…”